2014 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay Margaret River 750 ml

The Follow-Up to Wine Spectator’s #1 Chardonnay

The 2014 Art Series from Margaret River took the #1 Chardonnay spot in James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion with a near-flawless 98-point rave from Halliday himself. Lisa Perrotti Brown MW in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate also chimed in praising it as “One of Margaret River's (and Australia's) iconic Chardonnays,” espousing that “Leeuwin's 2014 Art Series Chardonnay continues that proud tradition” then pinned on 96 points. It’s a shining example of why Leeuwin Chardonnay is a regular in Wine Spectator’s annual Top 100 with practically zero Australian competition in 20 years. It is one of the only Australian wines that belongs in the Chardonnay pantheon alongside the Ramonets, Coche-Durys, and Kongsgaards of the world. The Wine Access clients who stashed bottles of our first allocation in their cellars—or any of the 2013 vintage—know how clever they are. It’s a wine that bested $1,000 Grand Cru Burgundies and California cult favorites to be named Spectator’s top Chardonnay of the year.

Australia’s leading critic, James Halliday, has called Leeuwin Estate, “a class act,” “working with the precision of a Swiss watch. It stands at the very forefront of estate-based, family owned wineries.” None of us here at Wine Access batted an eye when his 98-point review came out. After all, one of the greatest winemakers in history had his eye on Leeuwin too—long ago. That winemaker was Robert Mondavi.

That quality trumps quantity at the sprawling Leeuwin Estate is evident; the venerable Mondavi singled it out some 45 years ago as ideal for fine wine production—he even provided early mentorship to the Horgan family. It all makes sense when you taste the wine today: Yields are kept to a minimum, and small bunches retain tremendously concentrated fruit, which integrates beautifully with generous new oak.

“Margaret River's reputation in America rests on Chardonnay,” raved Wine Spectator and in 2014, conditions were “some of the best in living memory,” according to Halliday, and Leeuwin elevated a Chardonnay that, vintage in and out, has few equals.